California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill on Sunday requiring public universities to offer abortion medications at campus clinics.
The bill proposed by Senator Connie Leyva sought 34 campuses of California State University and University of California to offer pregnancy termination pills at their health centers by 2022.
While vetoing the bill, Brown said that medications are widely available off campus and the law was unnecessary.
“Access to reproductive health services including abortion is s along protected right in California. According to the study sponsored by the supporters of this legislation, the average distance to abortion providers in campus communities varies from five to seven miles, not an unreasonable distance,” Governor Brown wrote while returning the bill.
The bill required public university student health centers to pay $200,000 to cover the cost of medications and provide a 24-hour telephone support to the patients on abortion medications.
Leyva, while expressing her disappointment, said she would reintroduce the bill under the next governor.
“I am truly disappointed that Governor Brown vetoed the ‘College Student Right to Access Act’. This very important bill would have ensured access to medication abortion services on California public university campuses for students seeking to end their pregnancy,” she said.
“In the months and years ahead, I will continue fighting to make sure that college students have access to medication abortion on college campuses. I am hopeful that our incoming Legislature and Governor will agree that the right to choose isn’t just a slogan, but rather a commitment to improving true access to abortion for students across California.”
In 2016, the UC Berkeley students had pushed for a similar demand on campus, but it was turned down, paving a way for the bill draft.
